Line ruling attachment for typewriters



March 2, 1954 H. B. ABBOTT 2,670,832

LINE RULING ATTACHMENT FOR TYPEWRITERS Filed April 16, 1952 i? EH1 BYW'W ATTORNEYS Patented Mar. 2, 1954 LINE RULIN G 'ATTA'GHMENT FOR TYPEWRI'I ERS I Hazel B; Abbott, Washington, ApplicationApriLIfi, 1952,Serial N0. 282,664 3'Cl'aiins. (o1. nn-113) My invention relates to newand useful improvements in: typeviuniter attachments-and moreparticularly to an attachment in the nature of an accessory to beapplied or removed at the will of the operator, the primary object ofthe invention being to provide such an attachment oran accessory as willenable the operator to produce on any typewriting machine a series oflines in the formulation of charts, and the like. u

A- further object of the invention resides in the provision of anattachment applicable to'the fingers, normally used for holding cardsand en.- velopes in position, for guiding a marking device, such as apencil, or the like.

Still another object of the invention resides in the provision of aholder for a pencil or other marking device adapted to co-act with themarking guide on the fingers, so that designs may be producedon thepaperor other Work carried in the typewriting machine.

S tiil another object of the invention residesin providing a simple,inexpensive and eflicient attachment which may be quickly and readilyap-- plied and removed at the will of the operator.

With theseand numerous other objects-in View,

my invention consists in the novel features of construction, combinationand arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter referred to and moreparticularly pointed out in the specification and claims.

In the accompanying drawing, forming a part of this application:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary top vplanview of a typewriter with myattachment applied to use thereon;

Figure 2 is afragmentary enlarged verticalsectiontherethrough, as seenon theline 2+2 of Fig;

ure 1, with the marking device shown in elevation;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary enlarged elevation,

showing my improved marking guide applied to use ,on the fingers of atypewriter;

Figure 4 is a horizontal section therethrough, as seen on the line 4-4of Figure 2;

Figure 5 is a front elevation of my improved marking guide removed;

Figure 6 is a top plan View thereof;

Figure 7 isa side elevation of my improved holder for the markingdevice;

Figure 8 is a top plan view thereof;

Figure-dis a front elevation of the same;

Figure 10 is a vertical transverse section therethrough,-as-seen on-theline l'llii! of Figure 7-;

.Figure 1-1 is a front elevation of a modified form of marking guide,removed from the ,mach-ine; and

Figure 12- is an elevation of the character or chart is-produced. Whileit is possible to produce horizontal lines on the standard typewriters,there is tie-provision for the-production of vertical lines. Moreover,if an attempt is made to produce such charts on the-standardtypewriters, making the horizontal lines with the proper key and fillingin the vertical lines by hand, considerable time and labor is consumed,in additionto which an untidy or irregular chart results therefrom. Myinvention contemplates an attachment-which may be quickly and readilyapplied to enable'the typist or other operator to readily producesuchcharts on a typewriter with-- out using the keys of the machine. Themanydiflicultiesheretofore encountered will therefore be fully overcome.

In describing my invention, I shall refer to thedraW-ing inwhich similarreference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe severalviewsand in which the numeral l designates a typewriter" of the standardtype in which: isrotatably supported the usual platen 2 over whichthe'paperfl is guided. The ribbonspoolsare designated by the numeral 4and in the'drawin'g Ihave shown the bar 5 on the frameof the machinebetween the spools i. In some machines, tl'iis bar- 5 may be in theformof a shield, or the like, which not only shields the type but alsoshields the ribbon spools; It is immaterial, insofaras-my inventionisconcerned; whether there isabar or a shield present on the machine, asmyinvention will be applicable touse in connection with both designs orstructures, so long as' there is a support provided upon which a portionofmy device maybe applied. -The pivoted fingers 6, which are usedusually to hold cards and envelopes in position to be'typed, arealso'clearly shown in the draw ing, since said fingers form a necessarysupport for the essentialfeature of my invention.

This essential feature constitutes a guide for" a,-marking: device, suchas'a pencil, and in producing this element a strip "of thin springmetal,or the lik'epl is provided. While metal" has-been found to be mostdesirable, it may be that a form of plastic may be used to produce thisstrip, and I do not desire to be limited to any particular material. Thestrip has its ends bent around forwardly of the strip and downwardlythereof and portions thereof are curved inwardly toward the face of thestrip to form the spring clips 8, as best shown in Figures 5 and 6 ofthe drawing. These spring clips 8 enable the strip to be frictionallyengaged with the fingers 5 when the latter have been moved on theirpivots to a vertical position, as clearly shown in Figure 3 of thedrawing. When so clipped on these fingers, the strip is adapted to reston the face of the platen 2, as clearly shown in Figures 1 and 4 of thedrawing.

The strip I is bent outwardly intermediate of its ends at the pointsdesignated by the numeral 9 so as to form a center bulged portion i andthis bulged portion is again bent at points designated by the numeral II so that the intermediate portion of the face of the bulged portion it]will be fiat, as best shown in Figure 6 of the drawing. In the center ofthe flat face of the bulged portion I0, I provide the orifice l2 throughwhich is adapted to be projected the point of a pencil (3 or othersimilar marking device.

It is apparent that when the guide strip 1 is properly applied to thefingers B, as shown in Figures 3 and 4, the point of a pencil may beprojected through the orifice l2 to contact the paper 3 on the platen 2,and by moving the platen to the right or left, horizontal line will beformed on the paper, and by turning the platen, either with the platenknob M or through the medium of the line space lever 15, vertical lineswill be produced on the paper. In order that the operator may readilyobserve the lines being formed on the paper, I desire to provide thestrip 1 with cut-out portions 15 on each side of the flat intermediateportion of the center bulged portion 10. These cut-out portions oropenings may be of any size or shape, as desired, so long as theyprovide the medium to observe the markings being produced on the paper.

In making these markings on the paper through this guide strip '1, asabove described, the pencil or other marking device could be held in thehand of the operator with the operators wrist supported on the cross bar5 of the frame of the machine or the pencil could be rested on said barand held in position by the hand. I have, however, provided a supportingdevice for the pencil or other marker, so that the operator will findthe operation as simple as possible in carrying out the purposes forwhich this invention is designed.

To this end, I provide a support comprising a body member ll, formedpreferably of a plastic having a small amount of resiliency, the samebeing of any desired size and shape, although I have shown the same inthe drawing to be of a length sufiicient to support therein a pencil orsimilar marking device. This body member is slotted from the upper facethereof as shown at ill, the slot terminating within the body in alongitudinal bore 19, the latter being of a shape to snugly receive apencil or other marking device which is hexagonal in cross section. Thesize of the bore and the resiliency of the plastic material are such asto frictionally grip and retain the pencil or other marking devicefitted therein. Obviously, the slot i8 will permit the body to have suchresiliency as may be needed to retain the pencil in position therein.

Molded in or otherwise secured to the base nortion of the body I! is onearm of a spring metal clip 20. Under normal conditions, the spring metalof which the clip is formed is bent and shaped so that the clipping orbiting portion thereof is inclined with respect to the base of the bodyH, as illustrated in Figure 7 of the drawing. Thus, when the clip 28,carrying the body I! is applied to the bar 5, as shown in Figure 2 ofthe drawing, it will be frictionally held in position to support thepencil substantially in line with the opening 12 in the guide strip 1.However, it requires but a slight pressure to spring the pencil to aposition so that the point thereof may engage in and project through theopening I2, and the pressure of the clip, forcing the pointed end of thepencil downwardly, will cause the point of the pencil to be heldfrictionally under tension in the opening 12. Thus, it will only benecessary for the operator to slide the pencil forwardly in its supportto cause the point to remain in contact with the paper, when operating.the machine with this attachment to produce 7 vertical and horizontallines forming a chart, or

the like.

In Figure 12, I have shown a sheet 2| with a plurality of vertical andhorizontal lines formed thereon with the use of my inventionaforementioned. These lines are connected in such a fashion as toprovide what is generally known as an organizational chart, the latterbeing designated by the numeral 22. This is merely one result of theadaptation to use of my invention. Of course, various other designs maybe produced with the use of my improved attachment.

In Figure 11 of the drawing, I have shown a slightly modified form ofmarking guide, wherein the strip 1 is provided with the end clips 8,similar to the preferred form hereabove described. The central portionof the strip is provided with the center orifice 12 but the strip isskeletonized by having the large cut-outs it on each side of the centerportion 10, and said center portion is formed with further cut-outportions 23. This produces a lighter device and also greater amount ofopen space through which the operator may observe the markings on thepaper. As aforesaid, the cut-out portions or the openings in the stripmay be of any size or shape, as may be desired.

From the foregoing description of the construction of my improvedattachment, the operation thereof and the method of applying same to useon a typewriter will be readily understood, and it will be seen that Ihave provided a comparatively simple, inexpensive and eiiicient meansfor carrying out the various objects of the invention.

While I have particularly described the elements best adapted to performthe functions set forth, it is apparent that various changes in form,proportion and in the minor details of construction may be resorted to,without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the principlesof the invention.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

I. In a typewriter having a frame, a platen, and vertically disposedcard guide fingers in front of the platen, a device for forming linesextending horizontally and longitudinally upon a sheet of paper in saidtypewriter comprising a guide formed from a strip of resilient materialhaving end portions bent forwardly back upon themselves and formingbills engaged with said vertically disposed card-guide fingers andserving to support the strip horizontally between the fingers, saidstrip being formed midway of its length with a forwardly bowed portionand with an orifice midway of the length of the said bowed portion,there being sight openings formed in the strip and extendinglongitudinally thereof in spaced relation to opposite sides of theorifice, an elongated marker having a pointed end, and a memberdetachably engaged with a portion of the frame of the typewriter infront of the platen and gripping and supporting the marker horizontallyat right angles to the guide strip with the pointed end of the markerprojecting rearwar-dly through the orifice in position for markingcontact with a sheet of paper disposed about the platen.

2. A device for forming horizontally and vertically extending lines on asheet of paper in a typewriter about the platen thereof, said devicecomprising an elongated resilient strip having attaching clips atopposite ends extending forwardly of the strip at a downward inclinewith lower ends projecting downwardly from the clip, said strip havingbetween the clips a portion bowed forwardly and at its center formedwith an orifice of a diameter adapting it to accommodate a pointed endof a marker, and the portion of said strip between said clips beingformed with sight openings spaced from opposite sides of said orifice.

3. The structure of claim 1 wherein the mem her for gripping andsupporting the marker comprises a body of resilient materialsubstantially triangular in cross section and having a flatundersurface, said body being formed with a lengitudinally extendingmarker-receiving passage and with an upwardly extending slotconstituting a throat for the passage, and a securing member formed of aresilient strip embedded in said body and having a portion protrudingfrom an end of the body and bent back upon itself and forming a billdisposed under the body longitudinally thereof for detachably engagingthe said portion of the frame of the typewriter.

HAZEL B. ABBOTT.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 259,772 ODaniel et al. June 20, 1882 444,636 Hohenshell et al.Jan. 13, 1891 1,397,740 Pereira Nov. 22, 1921 1,746,942 Hise Feb. 11,1930 2,219,596 Lundquist et a1. Oct. 29, 1940 2,297,806 Smith Oct. 6,1942 2,431,043 Jackson Nov. 18, 1947 2,551,346 Sellers May 1, 1951

